Welcome to the Blaine2Maine newsfeed.
This whole idea started a few years ago when Tim asked me if I wanted to do a sailing trip with him. He suggested Portland to Portland. So we started looking for a seaworthy boat and found a 40’ steel cutter in San Francisco in the fall of 2019. After a couple of trips to see the boat and some consultation with more experienced sailors, we pulled the trigger and bought Traveler. Traveler was built in the 90s by a man named Patrick who sailed it around the world. Patrick has been an invaluable resource for us as we have come to know the boat and do some upgrades in preparation for our trip.
In the spring of 2020, we put Traveler on a truck and moved her to Blaine, Washington because the cruising area around Puget Sound offers more options than Portland, Oregon. We hoped to sail around the San Juan Islands and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, getting to know the boat. With Covid being what it was, we were only able to sail in the San Juans, but that still gave us what we needed to learn the boat and understand some of the upgrades we needed to do to prepare for our trip. Our first addition was a new mainsail and jib, handcrafted by Jess Grimm of Portland, Maine. We also met James & Tanya in Blaine since their slip was just across the dock from ours and they were also learning their boat. We did some buddy boating with them and decided to team up for the trip south.
At the end of the summer (2020) we pulled Traveler out of the water and into a boatyard in Anacortes for winter storage. This summer we have spent a lot of time preparing for the trip: upgrading the radar system and other electronics, adding more solar panels, refurbishing the head, installing a new cookstove and fridge, replacing most of the running rigging, replacing the cutlass bearing, and getting a new dinghy, as well as numerous other minor maintenance projects.
We are finally ready, and we are planning to pull out of Port Townsend on August 29th, weather permitting. Our first leg will take us to San Francisco where we will pull into port for a few days. We will buddy boat our way down the coast along with James & Tanya and their crew.